21st Century Distress
by CynStar
Summary: A 21st century female is beamed onto the ship from a desolate planet due to a distress call, with no idea of how she got there or what a starship is. What friendships and romance might occur, how will she learn everything, and what will be the fate of this 21st lady in distress?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I only recently began watching The Next Generation and I really wanted to create a story, just something that was floating around in my head... I hope to keep the story good, but who knows what friendships and romance might occur? Please read and review :) **

_Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, not even The Next Generation, or any of the characters, names, props, or anything else in this story that might be copyrighted. I don't claim any rights to it whatsoever; this is just for fun. Thank you. :) _

"Please, Mr. Data," Captain Picard stated, standing up from his chair on the bridge. "Tell us what is going on."

"I am not certain, sir," Data replied, working quickly at his console. "I do believe we have come across a primitive life form. Someone from what appears to be the twenty-first century, from earth. It is humanoid in origin."

"We have one to beam up then. O'Brien, one to beam up." Picard listened for O'Brien's "affirmative, Captain."

"I will be in my ready room if anyone needs me," Picard continued. "We can continue our course to Vulcan to deliver the packages; there is no use leaving this individual there on-planet when there is no one else and no means for survival. Number One, you have the bridge."

"Aye, sir," Wesley replied, resetting the course. The captain left the bridge, and Commander Riker approached Data.

"Data," Riker said, "Don't you think you should head to the transporter room to greet our newest guest?"

"Sir," Data said, turning from his console to look at the Commander. "With all due respect, I do not believe sending me to greet a twenty-first century guest to the ship would be wise. He or she will be shocked to learn about the ship, much less about androids roaming the ship. I will meet the guest later, after he or she has had more time to acclimate."

"You're right," Riker said, "Naturally. I will go there myself. You have the bridge." Riker set off toward the turbolift to greet their newest guest.

* * *

When Riker arrived at the transporter room, O'Brien was just locking the final coordinates down. Riker waited until O'Brien stated, "Beaming up now," and the individual started to appear on the platform. She came into full view and began spinning around confusedly on the pad.

It was a she, certainly. She had long brown hair, Riker observed, and an average height. She was wearing typical 21st century clothing - some kind of jeans and a grey T-shirt. Riker approached the pad, stating, "We just beamed you aboard, miss. Welcome to the star ship Enterprise. You are most welcome, and we mean you no harm."

"What? A ship? What kind of ship?" She blinked excessively, staring at him with wild eyes. Surely it wasn't easy to be learning all of this at once, being from the 21st century. Riker could understand that.

"It's a star ship - a spacecraft," he said. "We don't know how you ended up on that planet - hopefully you can tell us - but we thought you would be far more comfortable on here until we can get you safely to a starbase."

"A starbase? Planet? What? What's going on? Wait.." She froze. "Are you guys the ones who took me in the first place? I have a feeling I'm really far away from Kansas, Toto!"

"Excuse me?" Riker asked.

"I'm not in Kansas any more. You know, the quote? The Wizard of Oz?" When Riker gave only a confused look in return, she whispered, "Wow. I really am far away from home. I'm sorry. I'm just so confused... I don't know where I am. I got taken. From home. In the middle of the night. I feel like I've been unconscious for days... I don't even know what time it is. What time is it?"

"Please, try to calm down," Riker said with a little smile. "I know you must be confused, and we are confused about what happened to you, too. But we did not take you in the first place. You are from the 21st century, correct?"

"...Well, yeah." She shrugged. "Where else would I be from?" she asked. Riker smiled.

"Do you think the government hid star ships from you in the 21st century? We are from the future, miss. I am not lying to you. Our medical lab will probably prove that to you - I would like to escort you to sickbay, to be sure that you are all right. Would you please come with me?" Seeing she was completely dazed and confused and needed help, the commander stepped forward and reached an open-palmed hand out to her. She gently took it, stepped down from the platform, and walked with the commander toward sickbay. Even though there was nowhere else for her to go, Riker could somehow sense her level of trust in him already, and he already knew she would be a most interesting guest on the Enterprise.

* * *

**More to come soon, if there are some reviews indicating interest**


	2. 2: Greetings

**Author's Note: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed this story, or decided to follow it! I really appreciate it. Here's chapter two, and chapter three soon - these are too fun to write :) (Also, if you are reading again and notice a few changes, I did make a few - thanks to helpful reviewer Vampire Ronin.)  
**

* * *

The sickbay was something entirely new, unlike any other doctor's office she had been to before. The young lady did nothing but stare in amazement as Dr. Crusher used her various futuristic medical instruments to examine her. She didn't ask any questions; just sat patiently as the commander stood aside.

"Well, miss... what is your name?" Dr. Crusher asked kindly, putting her instruments down. The newest guest cleared her throat and said, "Lily... Lilian Winslet."

"Lily... very nice to have you aboard the Enterprise, Ms. Winslet," the doctor smiled. "I will begin a medical record for you, although I do not know how long you will be aboard the ship." The doctor exchanges some kind of look with the commander, which does not go unnoticed by Lily.

"What do you mean?" she asks, looking toward Riker. He slowly walks toward her.

"Well," he begins, "Did you leave anybody behind on earth, Lily? Anybody who means a lot to you?"

"...Sure," she says. "Mom, dad, older sister, older brother... I'm sure they're all wondering where I am, unless I've been gone for so short of a time that they haven't even noticed I'm gone. I was asleep when I was taken." She shudders, then looks back up at the commander. "How long was I away for?"

"We don't know yet," Riker replied. "We have a lot of people working on figuring that out right now. We're still not even sure what happened, and it may take time before you remember anything about what happened. You know you were taken in the middle of the night, which I'm sure will help us. One of our finest officers is leading the search for information; you will probably meet him soon." He pauses. "I know all of this technology is ahead of your time, but we are trying to figure out how you ended up in our century when you are from the 21st."

At that moment, the sickbay doors opened and the captain entered. "Captain," Riker greeted him, "Are you here to meet your newest guest?" Picard smiled and nodded toward the commander and Dr. Crusher, who had since moved away to a control panel to look over some more information. Picard approached Lily.

"Captain, meet Lilian Winslet," Riker stated formally. "Lily, this is Captain Picard, captain of the Enterprise."

"It is a pleasure to meet you sir," she said, extending a hand toward the captain. Picard smiled warmly and took the girl's hand in both of his, squeezing it with care. She felt immediately more at ease just with having this captain around; surely she would be all right.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lilian," he said.

"Please, just call me Lily," Lily flushed a little. "I hope I'm not taking up valuable space on your ship - although it seems... really big." She smiled when the captain fought not to chuckle, and replied "Indeed, it is. Do not worry a bit about being a hindrance - we are simply glad we found you. I have heard that you have no recollection of how you ended up on the desolate planet; it was completely deserted when we arrived, except for you being there of course. A few more hours, and I think you would have been beyond any of our aid - or rather, Dr. Crusher's medical expertise. It is lucky we found you."

"You don't remember being on the planet, do you?" Riker asked Lily. "Your lifesigns were slowed down while you were on the planet; it was as if you were in some kind of comatose state, and only the act of beaming you up to the ship woke you up - rather suddenly, too." Lily shook her head, saying, "All I remember is being taken - then feeling like I slept for forever. Although it wasn't a restful sleep..."

"I'm sure it wasn't," Picard empathized. "Please feel free to make yourself at home here in the meantime; I will allow Commander Riker to show you to your room once you are finished here in sickbay." He then turned, and left. Lily looked expectantly from Commander Riker to Dr. Crusher, and back again.

"Doctor," Riker asked, "Are you finished with Lily?"

"For now, anyway," Dr. Crusher sighed. "I'll let you know if I learn anything further about what happened with her, commander." And with that, Riker was leading Lily back out into the hallway and toward a turbolift. "Judging by how you look, I am guessing you feel quite tired. I will lead you to your new quarters, as Captain Picard suggested. You can get some rest." They entered the turbolift, but Lily was in for an unexpected surprise. While the turbolift they took to the sickbay only went vertically, the turbolift now had to move horizontally as well as vertically to reach their next destination. "Crew quarters," he said upon entering the turbolift. "This might surprise you a little."  
"What might surprise me?" she asked. But before she even finished the question, the lift began to move, and it felt... slightly different. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Are we going..."

"Sideways?" Riker completed the sentence for her, smirking. "Yes, we are."

"But... how? Why? Well, I guess I know why, it would be even more convenient - but how?" she asked.

"I think that would be a little difficult and unnecessary to understand right now," he replied with a smile, and she agreed with that.

As Riker and Lily exited the turbolift on the proper deck and made their way down the crew quarters' hallways, there was no-one in sight until they both turned the corner. At that moment, they met face to face with someone Lily knew she had not met yet. Commander Riker was right next to her, it was a male so it definitely wasn't Dr. Crusher, and Captain Picard was likely on the bridge, not in the crew quarters. Commander Riker stopped them both as the stranger stopped as well, looking curiously at the both of them.

"Ah, Lily," Riker said, "This is an introduction I was going to specially make a bit later after you had some rest - but I suppose now is just as fine of a time." He sees that Lily appears to be frozen in some kind of shock. She stares at this new stranger, gobsmacked, searching for the right words to say, and trying desperately to figure out what is different about this person. The stranger holds out his hand out toward her in a friendly greeting.

"Greetings, Lily. I am Data."


	3. 3: Club Sandwiches

**Author's Note: Sorry for the slight delay, but I'm back with the next chapter of this distress story - thanks to the lovely reviewers and followers and favoriters. Someone wrote "MORE. NOW" so I listened. :) You're all awesome, thank you! Happy reading. :)**

* * *

"...Data?" Lily struggled to wrap her mind around the idea of someone naming their child Data. "Did I hear that correctly, sir?" she asks while shaking his hand. She didn't want to get it wrong in the future.

"Yes, you did," Data answers with a nod of his head. "I am an android. Sometimes people find my name slightly confusing, until they learn this."

"I... a what? Okay, no problem, it's a very nice name," she smiles, already feeling as if she was making a fool of herself. "I'm sorry, I must seem so rude - I've just never met an android before," she stammers. "I mean, last I checked, all we had were android phones-"

"You are definitely not in the same star system or time as when something called a phone was around," Riker chuckles, as Data looks to him in confused curiosity. Riker opens his mouth to explain that Data was a type of complex programming, but Data stated it first. "I am a type of robot. A sentient entity."

"You're a... robot? But you look pretty human at the same time," Lily commented, taking note of his facial features, his hair, his eyes... such an interesting color, the yellow eyes. It took her a few seconds to break away from looking at them, and focus on what he was saying.

"I strive to be as human as possible. It is an ongoing project of mine," he says. "As an android, I am designed to look like a human. I wish to act as much as possible like one as well," he explains.

"Wow," she breathes. She is truly taken by awe of such a creature. "I'm sorry, I'm sure that's a common reaction people have when they meet you - but it's just amazing to actually get to see you, if I'm really in the future - I mean, at home, I'm a graduate student - I'm studying neuroscience, and I have a friend studying robotics and quantum computing..." she trails off, amazed that the android can look at her, listen to her, and raise his eyebrows just a little bit in curiosity. Where was her friend now? Why couldn't he see this marvel of a sentient being? He was a wonder to behold!

"You will have some interesting things to talk about with Mr. Data while you are on board, then," Riker tells her, "As long as you both want to."

"I assume that commander Riker was showing you to your quarters," Data says. "I must deliver these logs to the Captain."

"Right you are, Mr. Data - I was showing her to her quarters for her stay" Riker replies. "I am sure, after all, that our newest young guest needs to get some rest. It's been a long day for you, Lily; you must be tired."

"Yes, sort of," she says, still looking at the android in an amazed daze. "I mean... yeah. I am tired. I hope to see you around... somewhere, at some point," she tells Data, with a shy smile. He returns a small smile and a nod. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Lily." She is finally able to tear her eyes away from the android as Commander Riker begins walking her down the deck hallways again. The android walks in the opposite direction.

"I hope that wasn't too shocking for you," Riker tells her as they round another corner. "I was planning on saving the more odd, non-human introductions for a little while later."

"Oh, that was fine, I just - I'm amazed. It's just really hard for me to grasp, being so far into the future. Well, not super far into the future, but so much seems to have happened."

"A lot _has _happened," Riker says. "In time, you will probably see. The main thing we're trying to do right now, though, is to get you back to _your _place in time."

"So I'm not stuck here forever?"

"I didn't say that." He slows her down to a halt, and takes the opportunity to look her in the eye. "We're doing the best we can to find that out, though. But in the meantime, here are your quarters." He leads her in the door.

"After this, the doors will only open for you, unless we need access in an emergency," he explains to her, as she looks around the pleasant living space. "It's not much, but it's a decent place to stay. The Enterprise is a comfortable ship for most guests."

"It sure seems like it," she replies, running her fingers along one of the nearby chairs. She spots the replicator and points at it. "What's that?"

"_That _is what I was going to show you next." He walks over to the replicator an stands next to it. "If you could eat anything right now, what would you eat?" When she gives him a quizzical look, he grins. "I'm being serious. What would you have to eat?"

"A club sandwich," she says, not really knowing where she got that answer from - but it did sound pretty good. Riker turned to the replicator and stated "club sandwich. With french fries." In an instant, she saw a plate appear, holding a club sandwich and french fries so hot she could see them steaming. Once again, she was too shocked for words. She sat down at the nearby table as the commander brought her plate over.

"It's called a replicator," Riker explained without her even having to ask the next question. "It's a newer type of technology, designed for these long missions away from home. It can create almost anything you could possibly want to eat or drink. Pretty neat, huh?" he says, as she takes a bite of one of the most delicious club sandwiches she's ever had the opportunity to taste. "It's delicious," she says after swallowing. She takes another bite, not realizing how hungry she was until now. She notices the first officer watching her. "I hope I'm not keeping you busy... being a first officer sounds like it could be really important. I'll be fine here, I promise."

"It's part of my duties to ensure that new guests are comfortable, especially in circumstances like yours." By the look in his eyes, she could tell he meant what he said. He stood up, and headed for the door.

"You will let one of us know immediately if you remember anything - right, Lily?"

"Right," she replies. "But for now, I'll probably just rest. I don't know what time it is, but I'm tired."

"It's 1400 hours," Riker tells her. "Sleep for as long as you need to. It's important to get some rest. I'll send someone to check on you in a few hours - sometime around 1930, if that is fine with you. If you're asleep, you can sleep. If you're awake, you can go on a tour of the Enterprise."

"Sounds great." She struggles to remember the time. "Thank you, first officer."

"Call me Riker, remember?" He smiles. "Sleep well, Miss Winslet." And with that, he was gone, leaving her with the club sandwich and still steaming french fries. She nibbled on them for a few more moments, enjoying the delicious flavors while staring at the machine which 'replicated' the food out of thin air. She was tired, and the nearby bed looked appealing to her aching tired eyes, but she was so curious. She stood up from the table and walked over to the replicator.

"A glass of water - please," she says, remembering to be polite. Perhaps the machines had feelings? Probably not, but maybe?

"Please specify temperature." A voice came back at her, seemingly from the ceiling of the room - a soothing female voice. She looks up in shock, not used to ceilings speaking to her. "Uh - um - cold," she stammers to the ceiling. She hears the familiar whirring sound, and looks down at the replicator. A glass of water with condensation running down its sides appeared right in front of her. She gasped in pleasant surprise, taking the solid glass cup into her hand and carrying it back to the table.

As soon as she finished her lunch (since it was 1400 hours, it was closer to modern day lunch time), she was too tired to finish exploring her new quarters. The bed was calling even more loudly to her now. It was a simple bed, but it had blankets and pillows - just what she needed. She lays down on the bed, thinking she will be awake for quite some time just listening to the ship's ambient noise and panicking about being so far away, in such unfamiliar terrain - but then she was out, sleeping under the covers of a Starfleet blanket. She would just have to learn more later.


End file.
